Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind (Romans 12:2a ESV)

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Before Moving On

There have been times I've walked away from a situation, individual, or group thinking to myself: If they don't want to accept this, so be it, it's on them.
In fact, if this act of moving away is due to my faith being ridiculed, not received, or bitterly rejected, I often can cite biblical examples of how God's messengers moved on from a place that did not welcome them. Sometimes it is simply out of comfort to avoid conflict, sometimes it's more personal from family and friends that think me idiotic for my beliefs, and sometimes it is because I am all but pushed away physically.

However I think there is a passage from Acts 18 that paints a complete picture of this scenario that is worth reflecting on.

... and he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent.” ...
(Acts 18:4-6a ESV)

Before Paul disconnected himself from them after they opposed and reviled him, he did three very important things

He reasoned with them

He tried to persuade them

He testified to them

I know there are times I have tried to reason with someone in discussion about my faith, sometimes attempted to persuade them, and even (more importantly I think) testify to them not only that Jesus was the Christ, but a personal testimony as well.

Yet, I sadly can recall more times that I simply didn't even want to get into it for fear of an argument, more frustration, or trying to avoid deeper earthly wounds (ignoring the eternal impact). Sometimes I even hesitated to share my faith on a deeper level with those really close to me, or at work, because I feel my own life doesn't honor Christ like I think it should. After all, those closest to me know my failures all too well. However that is a pernicious lie from the depths of hell that continues to try and convince us that salvation is about deserving and earning, and not about Grace.

So before we shake out our garments and move on, give up, and walk away; are we sure we have done our part? Have we reasoned? Have we attempted to persuade? Have we testified?

Father, grant me the courage to climb above the lies of the enemy onto the solid ground of Your Truth. I confess my lack of faith and my reliance on self when thinking that I am more than I am. Give me the courage and words to use when reasoning, persuading, and testifying to Your Holy Name. Show me discernment for opportunities that you bring me, and do continue to bring them to me, even with as many opportunities that I have let slip by. Thank you for allowing these confessions to fill me with love and not guilt through your Grace poured out on me by your Son Jesus in Who's Name I pray. Amen.

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Kevin De Young on Christianity

"We often hear that all religions are basically the same in that they all encourage us to love our neighbors, help the poor, forgive others, and generally be kind, compassionate people. Even if this were true (which it isn't when you get down to specifics), it would miss the point, because Christianity is not a religion mainly about a moral code to keep. Christianity is about a God who saves people who don't keep the moral code." - Kevin De Young

C.S. Lewis on Jesus

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."